Readers' Choice: 10 More of the Most Powerful Women in Literature

Recently, we compiled a list of ten of the most powerful female characters in literature, and asked you to pitch in with your own suggestions in the comments. And boy, did you oblige us! As one commenter wrote, “This should be the 50 Most Powerful Female Characters. 10 just isn’t enough.” Indeed — even 50 probably wouldn’t cut it. We were excited to see the number of different characters you came up with, and even more excited to see a shining reminder of how many incredibly strong women exist in literature, so we decided to publish a second list with some of the most often (and most fervently) recommended female characters. The beauty about the vast world of literature is that different people are inspired by different things, so everyone gets to have a list of their own, and some of these aren’t necessarily characters we would have picked (though some totally are), but hey — the people have spoken. Click through to see which female characters our readers picked as the most powerful women in literature, and if we still haven’t hit on your favorite, make a case for her in the comments!

Elizabeth Bennet

Our commenters are big fans of the classic Austen heroine — she was suggested a total of 14 times! As Grace wrote, she is a woman “who doesn’t rebel against the conventions of her time, but uses them to get what she wants. The author is also one of the more remarkable women in literature: several decades before the Brontes (who published their work under make pseudonyms), she was brave enough to publish using her real name.”